Toronto and London, 10 October, 2008. Crawford Technologies Inc., the award-winning provider of TransPromo and transactional document and mailing solutions, today announced the launch of Enterprise IMB Unique ID Generator, a software product designed to enable system-wide implementation of unique mail piece identifiers for the new USPS Intelligent Mailâ Barcode (IMB). Using the Unique ID Generator companies can more easily generate and administer unique mail piece identifiers and expand the benefits of their migration to IMB Full Service options.
 
Enterprise IMB Unique ID Generator is a server-based solution that provides an API that allows document composition systems, postal pre-sort software, and all other applications which need to generate IMBs, to interface directly and receive IMB unique identifier data. The solution is engineered to service multiple enterprise applications and systems simultaneously with extremely high processing speeds. A batch utility provides the ability to automate legacy applications while a GUI interface allows users to obtain IDs and ranges directly from the system.
 
The new IMB will soon be required for companies looking to earn the maximum USPS postal discounts. Organizations find that they can benefit even further, however, with the ability to track their correspondence through the postal delivery system with the USPS IMB Full Service plan using identifiers created and administered via Enterprise IMB Unique ID Generator.
 
"Unique identifiers are a key enabler of a number of important process improvements," says Ernie Crawford, President of CrawfordTech. "The ability to know where a certain mail piece is in the system at any given time brings a wealth of enterprise advantages beyond simply maintaining postal automation discounts."
 
For organizations with multiple mailer IDs and multiple lines of business producing millions of documents each month, the generation of unique identifiers – and maintaining the uniqueness of each over time – soon becomes overwhelmingly complex. Mailers are required to ensure that each ID number remains unique and un-duplicated for at least a 45 day period, and in some cases longer. Enterprise IMB Unique ID Generator keeps these unique identifiers straight by providing a centralized server to administer and simplify the process.
 
"Creating and tracking unique IDs can pose significant challenges for organizations and is one of the major hurdles to IMB Full Service implementation. Our broad technology base allowed us to design an enterprise-level solution that removes those barriers," says Stephen D. Poe, VP of Product Management for CrawfordTech. "This product is an integral part of our Enterprise IMB product family and a vital component of a clear migration path for organizations wanting to take full advantage of the move to IMB."
 
Other benefits of Enterprise IMB Unique ID Generator include the ability to assign unique ID ranges based on specific locations or other criteria, as well as the ability to assign identifiers to trays, containers, special mailings and shipments. This enables the tracking of activities and products throughout internal Automatic Document Factory (ADF) operations. Enterprise IMB Unique ID Generator functions as a valuable link in the processing chain to ease the optimization and reengineering of documents for a variety of benefits.